Regional and Subsector Data Now Available for Canadian Charities

(July 3, 2006) A large amount of data from the 2004 National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations have been released in the form of regional and subsector profiles and fact sheets.

TheNational Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations (NSNVO) was a four-year research project led by a consortium of organizations and funded by the Voluntary Sector Initiative that incorporated information from more than 13,000 incorporated nonprofit organizations and registered charities.

The new regional reports and fact sheets cover the following areas:

Alberta

Atlantic Canada

British Columbia

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Territories

Ontario

Quebec

Data contained in the reports include revenue size and sources, volunteers, employees, donation patterns and other information.

Several other reports cover charitable and nonprofit subsectors in Canada, including sports and recreation, religious, social service and arts/cultural organizations.

“There’s a wealth of information in these reports, and I want to congratulate all of the organizations involved in developing the NSNVO,” said Paulette Maehara, CFRE, CAE, president and CEO of AFP. “I would encourage our members to obtain the free online reports because they provide an excellent overview of the charitable sector in different regions across Canada.”

Strengthening the Sector

Following the release of the NSNVO in the fall of 2004, more than 200 representatives of government, the corporate sector, academia, foundations and the nonprofit and voluntary sector gathered in 12 roundtable sessions to discuss the results of the survey. The roundtables were designed to engage key decision makers in discussions regarding how to strengthen the capacity of Canada’s nonprofit and voluntary organizations to serve Canadians.

Roundtable participants made recommendations in six key areas, which are included in a new report titled Strengthening the Capacity of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations to Serve Canadians: Recommendations Based on the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations.

The recommendations include:

Improve the engagement of volunteers

Improve conditions for paid staff

Develop better funding practices

Provide more support for smaller organizations

Collaborate and pool resources

Participate in policy development and communicate the value of the sector

The report contains specific actions that the government, foundations, businesses and the charitable sector should undertake to address the six recommendations.

About the Data and Studies

All of these resources (regional and subsecdtor profiles and fact sheets, along with the recommendations) are available on the nonprofitscan.ca website, the public information portal of Imagine Canada, which was formerly the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy.

Research for the NSNVO was conducted by a consortium of organizations with Imagine Canada serving as the project lead. The consortium includes l'Alliance de recherche universités-communautés en économie sociale à l'Université du Québec à Montréal, the Canada West Foundation, the Canadian Council on Social Development, the Capacity Development Network at the University of Victoria, the Community Services Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, Queen's University School of Policy Studies, the Secretariat on Voluntary Sector Sustainability of the Manitoba Voluntary Sector Initiative and Statistics Canada.

Funding for the NSNVO was provided by Social Development Canada through the Voluntary Sector Initiative.